India in quarters of U-17 Asian soccer

India and Qatar booked the last two quarter-final berths at the 10th Asian Under-17 football championships after Japan could only manage a 1-0 victory over Syria in their final Group C match at the Al Wahda Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.

Japan, who were touted as one of the favourites before the start of the tournament, went into their final group stage match needing four goals against second placed Syria to qualify for the last eight as one of the two best third placed teams.

India qualified for the quarter-final as the best third-placed team from group A and C, while Qatar made it from group B and D.

In the earlier match, Uzbekistan continued their good form, playing disciplined and patient football to defeat Qatar 1-0, with attacking midfielder Sadriddin Abdullayev getting his name on the score sheet in the 71st minute.

India will clash with Korea Republic in the second quarter-final to be played on Monday night, while China will take on Qatar in the first.

Uzbekistan will face hosts United Arab Emirates and Yemen takes on Syria on Tuesday in the other two quarter-final matches.

This will be India's best performance in the under-17 football championships, as their earlier best was last place in the group at the 1996 under-16 finals. India have qualified only twice in the 10 editions of the championships.

The tournament features 12 countries. The top three will represent the Asian continent in the FIFA Under-17 World Championship in Finland next year.